Napier, New Zealand (2020-03-06)

We have settled nicely into life in Napier.  Our days normally begin with a bike ride while the winds are calm, coffee (often incorporated into the bike ride), and then on to other more sedate activities.  We have explored to the North and South of us, and as we have water to the East, the only direction left to explore is West.

But this coronavirus thing is playing heavily on our minds, and does influence our decisions.  Napier will have a total of 17 cruise ships visit during our 4 weeks in town, so there are very few days without a cruise ship in the port.  As cruise ships have been described as floating petri dishes, and there are people are on them from all over the planet, we do everything that we can to avoid the cruise ship passengers, including no shopping in town on cruise ship days, and trying to bike through town either before they unload in the morning or after they depart in the evening.  If we do have to pass cruise ship passengers (easily identified by the coloured lanyards around their necks), we try and stay at least 3 feet away from them.  We figure better safe than sorry!

Ruby Princess backing into port

We also wonder what we will do if the number of coronavirus cases in New Zealand increases dramatically.  Will it be any better in Canada?  Do we fly home earlier than planned?  Do we find a place to hide in New Zealand?  This could totally consume us, so we choose to ignore it and will take our chances.  But Gisborne is off the tourist path, so could be a good place to be if the virus spreads.  

Riding past the beach in Ahuriri last weekend, we saw kids playing with toys in a log enclosure on the beach, and thought that a bunch of parents must have brought their kids and the toys down to the beach.  When we rode past again on Tuesday, the toys were still there, but no sign of kids, so we assume that the toys are a semi-permanent fixture on the beach. Another great kiwi idea.

Toy Collection on Ahuriri Beach

A nearby tree seemed to also come in handy, as a repository for left behind stuffed toys, hats and sweaters.

The Stuffie Tree

 Some places are a little too far to bike to, so on Monday we took the bus (or should I say 3 buses) to Havelock North to visit Jill, a distant cousin of Marlene.  The journey takes about 30 minutes by car, but with 2 transfers required, it took two hours by bus.  We also had to leave for home by 3:30 pm, so that we would not miss the last bus of the day, for the final last leg of our journey, to avoid a one hour walk.  Jill has led an interesting life, and we all got along well, so she is coming over to visit us next week, so that we can chat some more.

We have also managed to have a few coffees with cousins Maureen and Denzil, and we four had dinner together last Friday night at an Indian restaurant in town - Rasoi.  Rasoi translates into English as "Kitchen" (or so they told us), and they even provide bibs to help keep dinner off your clothes.

Ready To Eat

The food was great, and included fish, lamb, chicken and vegetable dishes, with rice and naan.  There was very little left over, and we were plenty satisfied.

Tonight, my sister Tricia is arriving for a one week stay, so let's hope that the rain showers, that we have had for the past few days, decide to move on to greener pastures, so that we can get out and enjoy the area.  Meanwhile, time for dinner.